Those Left Behind
by Cheshire Pandacat
Summary: Most of the Primo generation eventually moved to Japan, but two of them stayed behind. A short Daemon/Lampo friendship drabble.


A/Ns: I dunno I guess I just really wanted to write this dynamic or something? 8D;;;

Disclaimers: Don't own KHR never will blah blah blah

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Those Left Behind

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"Japan?" Daemon said, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to Japan?"

"Yes," Giotto replied. "Ugetsu's convinced me to visit his home village. Knuckle's coming, too, to join a missionary movement there. And G is accompanying me, of course," he added with a dry smile.

"I see," Daemon replied. Carefully, he asked, "Is this just a visit, or…?"

Giotto was silent for a moment. "Perhaps, perhaps not," he said at last, eyes distant. "I am retiring as the boss of the Vongola, though, and I don't mean to return to Italy. As you've pointed out before, my heart isn't in it the way it was before Cozart…"

Daemon placed a hand on Giotto's shoulder. "I understand. I wish you all the best, Giotto."

Giotto's eyes met and held his, and Daemon had an uneasy moment where he wondered just how much Giotto saw.

"I wish the same for you as well, Daemon," Giotto said quietly, and pulled Daemon into a tight hug. Daemon grunted, but allowed himself to return the embrace.

Despite all Giotto's weaknesses and flaws, now that Elena was gone, he was the person Daemon cared for most in the world. And in all likelihood, they wouldn't meet again.

A few weeks after Giotto's departure, Alaude stepped down from his position as outside advisor. Well, if "stepped down" was a legitimate description of "vanished into thin air."

Daemon wasn't surprised, though. Alaude wasn't interested in Ricardo the way he had been in Giotto.

Working together with Ricardo and Ricardo's chosen guardians, Daemon was finally able to start developing the Vongola into something Elena would have been proud of. He should have been happy.

But for some reason, his life just seemed… lacking.

Lacking Elena, he told himself.

But at last he had to admit that a part of him missed the men he'd spent so much time with, the men he'd fought beside, the men who remembered Elena. Now, they were all gone.

Except one.

"Hey, Daemon," Lampo greeted him, waving lazily from his armchair when his butler escorted Daemon to the sitting room. "Long time no see."

"Indeed," Daemon agreed, taking a seat on the couch across from the former Lightning guardian. The last time he'd seen Lampo was when he'd retrieved the Lightning ring from him, as a matter of fact. Lampo had been the only one who'd smiled at him when Daemon asked for his Vongola ring to pass on to the next generation of guardians.

"I must admit, I was surprised to receive an invitation from you," Daemon said, crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap. Lampo blinked at him.

"Why?"

Daemon stared back, frowning. Why?

"Because I hadn't expected you to have any business with me after you left the Vongola," Daemon said coolly. Lampo's brow furrowed.

"I don't," the lordling replied, shrugging. "But I haven't seen you since Giotto left. Since you never came to visit, I had to go to the trouble of inviting you. That's all."

Daemon's eyes widened fractionally, and then, almost despite himself, he smiled. "I see. My apologies, Lampo. I've been so busy, and had so much on my mind, it never occurred to me that you'd want to see me."

"Of course I want to see you," Lampo huffed, looking sulky. "Giotto and G and all the others left, and you're the only one who's still here."

Daemon studied him. Unlike he himself, Lampo had very little to occupy his time these days. "You're lonely," he observed.

Lampo shrugged again, staring broodily out the window. "And you're not?" he grumbled under his breath.

Daemon was quiet for a moment, and then chuckled ruefully. "I suppose I am," he said, and then was startled at the undercurrent of bitterness in his own voice. But he could let his guard down around a fellow Primo generation guardian the way he couldn't around Ricardo or any of the current members of the Vongola.

Lampo's eyes darted over to him, expression suddenly hopeful and vulnerable. After a moment, he stood, walked over, and plunked down on the couch next to Daemon, resting his head on Daemon's shoulder.

"I miss them," Lampo whispered, voice wavering as if on the brink of tears.

Daemon hesitated, then wrapped an arm around Lampo's shoulders. Lampo snuggled in closer, tucking his legs in and clutching at Daemon's shirt. Daemon gently kissed Lampo's hair.

"As do I, Lampo. As do I."

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End A/Ns: Is it weird that of the Primo generation guardians I find these two the most interesting? xD;;

Also headcanon is that after Giotto & co left they were pretty much each others' only friends. Their personalities didn't really mesh well and they didn't even particularly like one another, but they spent a lot of time together anyway and were almost creepily co-dependent.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not they ever had sex (as in I could see it either way), but for extended visits they would at least sleep in the same bed sometimes. It was never romantic, though (again, incompatible personalities). Just two lonely men with no one else to turn to. Eventually Lampo met someone and got married, at which point they pretty much stopped spending time together and only met by chance at like fancy parties and stuff.

And that is my unnecessarily depressing and bizarrely detailed headcanon for Daemon and Lampo's quasi-friendship.


End file.
